The rise in exports will be accompanied by a planned increase in production.
The company is the largest producer of pork in Russia, but in recent years it has also focused on expanding its poultry and beef divisions. In 2015, the company produced 75,600 tonnes (t) of poultry, 2.5 times more than in 2014. The target volume for 2016 is 117,800t.
However, the plans may be affected by a fire that killed nearly 240,000 chickens at two Miratorg production plants in Bryansk on 27 January.
In 2015 Miratorg produced 40,500t of beef compared with 3,300t in 2014. This year the company intends to build production volumes to 62,141t of beef. Initially, the target for 2016 was set at 80,000t of beef, with 20-30% of this amount destined for export. However, the plan was revised at the end of 2015.
“The company also started production of halal chicken meat, with the main target to supply a new product on the markets of the CIS, as well as countries beyond Eastern Europe,” said the company’s press service.
New export areas
Miratorg is the first Russian company approved for exports of beef to Iran, according to Russian Deputy Agriculture Minister Sergei Levin.
“An official delegation from the Ministry visited Teheran last Tuesday, where it was confirmed that Miratorg had been granted the right to start deliveries of beef,” he said.
Miratorg will also supply the UAE with halal beef patties for burgers in the Horeca (hotel, restaurant and café) sector, according to Alexei Ivanov, a spokesperson for the Miratorg-West division of the company.
In addition, according to the press service of Miratorg subsidiary Bryansky Broiler, the company has been included in the list of suppliers of poultry products to the EU, so in the first quarter of 2016, it plans to launch its first exports of chicken to a number of European countries.
At the end of last year, the company’s president Viktor Linnik also disclosed large-scale plans for exports of meat to Brazil, China and Canada. At the same time, he stated that exports to the EU could take place “if sanctions were lifted”.
Export barriers
Meanwhile, Russian market experts have suggested that Miratorg, as well as any other Russian meat manufacturers, could face serious challenges in developing meat exports in 2016 due to the country’s unresolved legislative and veterinary problems.
“Supplies of meat from Russia are limited primarily due to internal reasons – in particular, due to the segmented structure of the country’s veterinary service and the primitive regulatory framework of biological safety and animal health,” said Sergei Yushin, head of the National Meat Union.
“We need to fund programs to combat highly dangerous animal diseases, as well as introduce [better] monitoring of epizootic diseases in the country. Now our legislation in this area is almost at a zero level of development. But many businesses, both technologically and economically, are ready for exports, so the state should now act [to support them],” he added.
Aldert Davleev, head of the analytical agency Agrifood Strategies, agreed with this opinion.
“Many traders are willing to accept Russia’s veterinary certificates and products. But serious trade requires bilateral trade certificates with each importing country, and this factor is the main obstacle to exports. Following the fall of the rouble, prices for our products have become more competitive and there are [good] prospects. We could compete with Brazil, the USA and Europe,” he said, adding that, without certificates, export prospects remained very limited.